Football: Starting with managing Manchester United

The words are divided into two parts.

Grealish's life was not easy. The nineteen-year-old had just experienced a life of glitz and glamour, which made him slow down and put aside his restless heart.

It's hard.

Grealish felt like ants were crawling on his body every night.

But he didn't dare to sneak off to the bar.

He dared not gamble that Zhang Yang might not find out, knowing that if Zhang Yang discovered his indulgence in lust again, he would not give him any more chances.

He probably has no other option but to transfer to another club.

Thinking this, he fell asleep without realizing it. When the alarm clock woke him up, it was already getting light.

The training schedule for the youth team is different from that of the first team.

It should have been earlier.

Grealish got out of bed, something he used to do for a while, but now for various reasons.

He forced himself to develop the habit of going to bed early and waking up early.

Otherwise, if the youth team coach says a few bad things about him, he might not be able to return to the first team this season.

Recently, the way his teammates on the youth team have been looking at him has made him feel very embarrassed.

He used to be the best player in the youth team, able to lead the team to victory with his individual ability, and he is still the best player in the youth team now.

The admiring glances that were once directed at them have now turned into disdain.

Nobody likes a drunkard.

Most of the players in Aston Villa's youth team come from the Villa youth academy. They share Grealish's love for football and for this club with its glorious history.

Grealish's actions tarnished Villa's reputation and subjected them to a lot of criticism.

After washing up, I arrived at the training ground.

The teammates were warming up in twos and threes, chatting and laughing while avoiding Grealish.

Grealish then followed and jogged around the field to warm up.

Over the past few days, he has gotten quite used to the initial shame and indignation.

At first, those strange looks and deliberate distancing were like sharp thorns, pricking him from time to time.

But it also gradually brought him to his senses.

isolated?

Grealish felt he couldn't really say.

After all, the coach has repeatedly emphasized countless times during daily training that personal emotions should not affect the interests of the entire team.

So his teammates will still pass the ball to him according to the tactics.

When he delivers a beautiful pass or scores a crucial goal, his teammates will praise him, but he sees through their deliberate politeness better than anyone else.

But he still couldn't understand it.

This frustration accumulated, making him feel discouraged and leading to anger.

Suddenly, my ears became noisy.

Grealish followed his teammate's gaze and saw Zhang Yang standing on the sidelines with the youth team coach, Zhang Yang holding a roster and talking to him.

It looks like they're here to scout players for the youth team.

As everyone knows, in competitions like the EFL Cup, teams usually allocate some spots to allow young players to get playing time and experience.

They defeated Stoke City and Newcastle in the first two rounds of the Premier League.

This ignited the passion of the young Villa players, who couldn't wait to get on the pitch and fight alongside the team's legends, such as Barry, Weimann, and Agbonlahor.

Through the fact that Kante and Casemiro were given important roles by Zhang Yang, we learned that Zhang Yang liked to give young people opportunities.

Of course, this is on the premise that you can deliver an outstanding performance.

"Jack, Brian and Neil, come with me. You've been temporarily called up to the first team."

The youth team coach called the players over to him.

Of the three whose names were called, two were overjoyed, while the other had a rather strange expression.

The latter is Grealish.

He couldn't understand the head coach's actions. Was he giving him another chance, or was he simply being pulled in temporarily to make up the numbers because they didn't have enough players?

"Come with me." Zhang Yang thanked the youth team coach and turned to walk towards the other side of the base.

The three followed behind him, Grealish with his head down, just as he had when he left.

He doesn't know what his teammates think of him now.

Perhaps it was thoughts like, "We won both games without Jack," "He might not be as important as he seems," or "We won't lose this game because of him." These jumbled thoughts raced through my mind.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the first team's training base.

At 9 o'clock sharp, all the Villa players had arrived. Now at Villa, no one dares to be late or leave early.

Zhang Yang nodded with satisfaction. "We will be rotating players in the next match, but that doesn't mean the EFL Cup isn't important. On the contrary, the EFL Cup is one of our main goals this season."

Because the EFL Cup winner can participate in European competitions.

Furthermore, the EFL Cup has a connection with Aston Villa.

In 1960, the English League Cup was created on the advice of Alan Hardak, the secretary of the English Football League.

1961 October.

In the inaugural EFL Cup final, after two legs, Aston Villa came from behind to defeat Rotherham United 3-2 on aggregate, becoming the first champions in EFL Cup history.

Aston Villa have won five EFL Cup titles to date.

They rank second among English teams, only behind Liverpool with eight titles. Behind Aston Villa are Chelsea and Manchester United with four titles each.

Moreover, the EFL Cup is the competition in England where mid-table teams are most likely to win the title.

Swansea and Birmingham had won the title in previous years, and after Villa defeated Arsenal in 2010-11 to win the title, Villa fans were subjected to a lot of insults.

Unfortunately, Vera herself has never lived up to expectations.

"Against Leyton Orient, we need to try to control possession and organize our attacks by penetrating the defense."

Zhang Yang made further tactical adjustments.

This match was a training exercise for young players and an experiment for him with new tactics.

The same applies to any field in the world.

If you don't advance, you fall behind.

Modern football has made rapid progress thanks to technological advancements.

Many clubs have begun to embrace data; for example, Manchester City has 11 data analysts. But will relying too much on data weaken the coach's intuitive judgment?

Zhang Yang thought so.

Looking at the players running on the field, Zhang Yang's eyes seemed to be blurry; it was as if he were looking at numbers.

Two days ago, Vera's data analytics director told him that they had been tracking Kanté's running data... Zhang Yang couldn't remember the final conclusion.

Because he thought it was all nonsense.

Moreover, Kante's performance on the field cannot be summarized by a single statistic.

Data can tell you how many meters a player has run and how many times he has won the ball.

But only human eyes can tell why he ran.

Zhang Yang doesn't reject data; he knows that football is undergoing changes, just like the data in Motorola.

Initially, it only calculated passing and shooting data. Now, the data statistics have become more and more complex, such as player running routes and heat zones, which show the player's movement on the field.

But ultimately...

Zhang Yang insisted on his own ideas.

That is, football is a passionate sport, but if it degenerates into a silent and cold calculation program.

That would be meaningless.

Zhang Yang stopped his random thoughts and looked at the players training.

Grealish has improved and become more composed.

But Zhang Yang felt something was off. These data were hard to find, so he rubbed his temples hard.

This feels just as unbearable as having a rebellious child at home.